ASSESSING AND DEFINING RESPONSIBILITY IN RWANDA
How would you assess the level of “responsibility” of these people for the Rwandan genocide that began in
April 1994? Indicate one of the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Not Responsible
Minimally Responsible
Responsible
Very Responsible
___ 1. A teacher who categorized schoolchildren as Hutu or Tutsi for the government
___ 2. Civil servants who gave lists of Tutsis to the militias who then killed them
___ 3. A Rwandan soldier who opposed the killings, but did not speak out against them.
___ 4. Child soldiers, recruited into the Hutu militia, who killed Tutsis
___ 5. Radio broadcasters who called for the elimination of all Tutsis
___ 6. Members of the Presidential Guard who started the killing
___7. Foreign companies and governments who sold the Rwandan government guns, tanks, and other supplies
before the killings. (Most killing was with machetes)
___ 8. Humanitarian organizations who gave aid to everyone-victims and perpetrators alike
___ 9. Diplomats who evacuated Rwanda, leaving their Rwandan employees behind without protection
___ 10. The U.S. President who, during the entire three months of the genocide, never assembled his top policy
advisors to discuss the killings.
___ 11. A Catholic nun who forced hundreds of Tutsis seeking protection in her convent to leave knowing they
would be killed.
___ 12. A Hutu man who killed his Tutsi neighbor to divert the military’s suspicion away
from himself and his house where he was hiding Tutsi family members.
___ 13. UN officials who ignored reports of genocide in Rwanda
___ 14. Belgian colonizers who, in the early 1900s, damaged ethnic relations between Hutus and Tutsis by
promoting the idea that Tutsis were superior to Hutu
___ 15. Members of the UN Security Council who voted to reduce peacekeeping troops while the killings were
ongoing.
___ 16. A man who helped his Tutsi friend escape, but participated in the killing of strangers
___ 17. A woman who did not kill anyone, but looted the homes of Tutsi victims
___ 18. A British reporter who incorrectly reported the genocide as “tribal warfare”
___ 19. An American citizen who tuned out all the news from Rwanda because it was too graphic and
depressing
___ 20. UN peacekeeping troops who, following direct orders not use force unless fired upon, did not intervene
as Hutus killed Tutsis
ASSESSING AND DEFINING RESPONSIBILITY IN RWANDA
How would you assess the level of “responsibility” of these people for the Rwandan genocide that began in
April 1994? Indicate one of the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Not Responsible
Minimally Responsible
Responsible
Very Responsible
___ 1. A teacher who categorized schoolchildren as Hutu or Tutsi for the government
___ 2. Civil servants who gave lists of Tutsis to the militias who then killed them
___ 3. A Rwandan soldier who opposed the killings, but did not speak out against them.
___ 4. Child soldiers, recruited into the Hutu militia, who killed Tutsis
___ 5. Radio broadcasters who called for the elimination of all Tutsis
___ 6. Members of the Presidential Guard who started the killing
___7. Foreign companies and governments who sold the Rwandan government guns, tanks, and other supplies
before the killings. (Most killing was with machetes)
___ 8. Humanitarian organizations who gave aid to everyone-victims and perpetrators alike
___ 9. Diplomats who evacuated Rwanda, leaving their Rwandan employees behind without protection
___ 10. The U.S. President who, during the entire three months of the genocide, never assembled his top policy
advisors to discuss the killings.
___ 11. A Catholic nun who forced hundreds of Tutsis seeking protection in her convent to leave knowing they
would be killed.
___ 12. A Hutu man who killed his Tutsi neighbor to divert the military’s suspicion away
from himself and his house where he was hiding Tutsi family members.
___ 13. UN officials who ignored reports of genocide in Rwanda
___ 14. Belgian colonizers who, in the early 1900s, damaged ethnic relations between Hutus and Tutsis by
promoting the idea that Tutsis were superior to Hutu
___ 15. Members of the UN Security Council who voted to reduce peacekeeping troops while the killings were
ongoing.
___ 16. A man who helped his Tutsi friend escape, but participated in the killing of strangers
___ 17. A woman who did not kill anyone, but looted the homes of Tutsi victims
___ 18. A British reporter who incorrectly reported the genocide as “tribal warfare”
___ 19. An American citizen who tuned out all the news from Rwanda because it was too graphic and
depressing
___ 20. UN peacekeeping troops who, following direct orders not use force unless fired upon, did not intervene
as Hutus killed Tutsis
Instructions:
8 Stages of Genocide
1. Read and annotate
2. Add to your annotations as we go through the slides
3. Apply to the genocide in Rwanda. Can you apply any of these stages to the scenarios on the other
side of this page?
1. Classification
 All cultures have categories to distinguish people into "us and them" by ethnicity, race, religion, or
nationality. Bipolar societies that lack mixed categories.
2. Symbolization
 We give names or other symbols to the classifications. We name people "Jews" or "Gypsies", or
distinguish them by colors or dress; and apply them to members of groups. Classification and
symbolization are universally human and do not necessarily result in genocide unless they lead to
the next stage, dehumanization. When combined with hatred, symbols may be forced upon
unwilling members of pariah groups.
3. Dehumanization
 One group denies the humanity of the other group. Members of it are equated with animals, vermin,
insects or diseases. Dehumanization overcomes the normal human revulsion against murder.
 At this stage, hate propaganda in print and on hate radios is used to vilify the victim group. In
combating this dehumanization, incitement to genocide should not be confused with protected
speech. Genocidal societies lack constitutional protection for countervailing speech, and should be
treated differently than in democracies.
4. Organization
 Genocide is always organized, usually by the state, though sometimes informally or by terrorist
groups. Special army units or militias are often trained and armed. Plans are made for genocidal
killings.
5. Polarization
 Extremists drive the groups apart. Hate groups broadcast polarizing propaganda. Laws may forbid
intermarriage or social interaction. Extremist terrorism targets moderates, intimidating and
silencing the center.
6. Preparation
 Victims are identified and separated out because of their ethnic or religious identity. Death lists are
drawn up. Members of victim groups are forced to wear identifying symbols. They are often
segregated into ghettoes, forced into concentration camps, or confined to a famine-struck region
and starved.
7. Extermination
 Extermination begins, and quickly becomes the mass killing legally called "genocide." It is
"extermination" to the killers because they do not believe their victims to be fully human. When it is
sponsored by the state, the armed forces often work with militias to do the killing. Sometimes the
genocide results in revenge killings by groups against each other, creating the downward
whirlpool-like cycle of bilateral genocide.
8. Denial
 Denial is the eighth stage that always follows a genocide. It is among the surest indicators of further
genocidal massacres. The perpetrators of genocide dig up the mass graves, burn the bodies, try to
cover up the evidence and intimidate the witnesses. They deny that they committed any crimes, and
often blame what happened on the victims. They block investigations of the crimes, and continue to
govern until driven from power by force, when they flee into exile. There they remain with
impunity, unless they are captured and a tribunal is established to try them.
Instructions:
8 Stages of Genocide
1. Read and annotate
2. Add to your annotations as we go through the slides
3. Apply to the genocide in Rwanda. Can you apply any of these stages to the scenarios on the other
side of this page?
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1. Classification
a. All cultures have categories to distinguish people into "us and them" by ethnicity, race, religion, or
nationality. Bipolar societies that lack mixed categories.
2. Symbolization
a. We give names or other symbols to the classifications. We name people "Jews" or "Gypsies", or
distinguish them by colors or dress; and apply them to members of groups. Classification and
symbolization are universally human and do not necessarily result in genocide unless they lead to
the next stage, dehumanization. When combined with hatred, symbols may be forced upon
unwilling members of pariah groups.
3. Dehumanization
a. One group denies the humanity of the other group. Members of it are equated with animals, vermin,
insects or diseases. Dehumanization overcomes the normal human revulsion against murder.
b. At this stage, hate propaganda in print and on hate radios is used to vilify the victim group. In
combating this dehumanization, incitement to genocide should not be confused with protected
speech. Genocidal societies lack constitutional protection for countervailing speech, and should be
treated differently than in democracies.
4. Organization
a. Genocide is always organized, usually by the state, though sometimes informally or by terrorist
groups. Special army units or militias are often trained and armed. Plans are made for genocidal
killings.
5. Polarization
a. Extremists drive the groups apart. Hate groups broadcast polarizing propaganda. Laws may forbid
intermarriage or social interaction. Extremist terrorism targets moderates, intimidating and
silencing the center.
6. Preparation
a. Victims are identified and separated out because of their ethnic or religious identity. Death lists are
drawn up. Members of victim groups are forced to wear identifying symbols. They are often
segregated into ghettoes, forced into concentration camps, or confined to a famine-struck region
and starved.
7. Extermination
a. Extermination begins, and quickly becomes the mass killing legally called "genocide." It is
"extermination" to the killers because they do not believe their victims to be fully human. When it is
sponsored by the state, the armed forces often work with militias to do the killing. Sometimes the
genocide results in revenge killings by groups against each other, creating the downward
whirlpool-like cycle of bilateral genocide.
8. Denial
a. Denial is the eighth stage that always follows a genocide. It is among the surest indicators of further
genocidal massacres. The perpetrators of genocide dig up the mass graves, burn the bodies, try to
cover up the evidence and intimidate the witnesses. They deny that they committed any crimes, and
often blame what happened on the victims. They block investigations of the crimes, and continue to
govern until driven from power by force, when they flee into exile. There they remain with
impunity, unless they are captured and a tribunal is established to try them.